Victim, suspect have history of violence behind bars

Monday

Apr 27, 2009 at 12:01 AMApr 27, 2009 at 3:31 PM

Both the victim and the suspect involved in Friday’s homicide at the Oneida Correctional Facility have a history of violent behavior while behind bars, a state Department of Correctional Services spokesman said Monday.

Courtney Potts

Both the victim and the suspect involved in Friday’s homicide at the Oneida Correctional Facility have a history of violent behavior while behind bars, a state Department of Correctional Services spokesman said Monday.

Inmate Fredrick Velez, 40, of Manhattan was pronounced dead at Rome Memorial Hospital early Saturday after he was stabbed by another inmate during a fight at about 11 p.m Friday.

The inmate responsible is believed to be 55-year-old Jose Rodriguez, also of Manhattan, DOCS spokesman Erik Kriss said. Rodriguez currently is serving a life sentence for first-degree attempted murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Rodriguez now faces internal disciplinary charges for fighting, assault on an inmate and creating a disturbance stemming from Friday’s fight, Kriss said.

Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said Rodriguez will likely be put before a grand jury as well.

Kriss Monday said Rodriguez’s disciplinary record during his 27 years in state prison includes multiple incidents of violent conduct and fighting, as well as two incidents of weapon possession and a previous assault on an inmate in 1997.

Velez, likewise, had one incident of violent conduct and several incidents of refusing a direct order and causing a disturbance since his most recent incarceration began in 2002. He was serving up to 12 years on a first-degree robbery conviction and would have been eligible for parole in 2011.

“When inmates violate the rules in prison, we assess disciplinary sanctions on them,” Kriss said. “The first step in that process is to basically charge them with certain violations. And they have due process within prison just as they do outside of prison.”

If a disciplinary hearing finds them guilty of a violation, they can lose privileges or find themselves moved to different housing.

“The bottom line here is there are some strict rules within prison that if they were not enforced there would be the potential for disorderliness that could lead to incidents,” he said. “That’s why it’s important for everybody’s safety, including the inmates.”

Velez was taken to the hospital Friday after he suffered a centimeter-wide stab wound to his left chest and collapsed. A 9 ½-inch by ½-inch metal shank later was recovered at the scene of the fight, Kriss said.

Kriss said he did not know how much time elapsed between when correctional officers first noticed the fight and when Velez collapsed, but said he was confident the officers handled the situation properly.

“They responded, they broke the fight up, they went to frisk the inmates…and they called medical,” he said. “Everything to my knowledge was done the way it was supposed to be done by our staff.”

The cause of the fight could not be learned Monday.

Kriss said the Oneida Correctional Facility is a medium-security prison with dormitory-style quarters, but did not know the specifics of where the fight occurred.

No criminal charges had been filed as of Monday, but McNamara said he will likely put the case before a grand jury to ensure that Rodriguez remains in state prison during any legal proceedings.

If Rodriguez were arrested and arraigned in a local criminal court, the judge would have no authority to return him to state prison and would instead be obligated to remand him to the Oneida County Jail, he said.

“Because the suspect is currently incarcerated and he won’t be going anyplace, the need to make an actual arrest doesn’t really exist,” McNamara said. “At this point, we’re deciding if we want to go straight to the grand jury.”

A grand jury would decide if murder charges were warranted based on whether they believed Rodriguez’s intended to kill Velez or simply to injure him.